St Joe River Update - June 2018

Sean Visintainer - 06/02/18

Starting to shape up!

Mike and I took a drive up the St. Joe on Thursday to check out how conditions are shaping up for the month of June. While the weather wasn't ideal with the cold, rainy system that had settled in we did find some fish on our way up to Spruce Tree Camp Ground.

As per usual during spring fishing on the St. Joe, the higher we went, the more limited pockets became. Prediction flows show the St. Joe will drop considerably and that weather will warm up making for more opportunities over the next week or so. The mid and lower stretches of the St. Joe were far better options than up high. Again though, this will change rather quickly with a drop in levels and warmer temps. Remember, the St. Joe runs about 2-3 weeks behind the NF Coeur d'Alene River. There is some overlap of what happens on both of these drainages as they are similar, but the St. Joe being larger, colder, and further in the mountains will lag behind the Coeur d'Alene a few weeks.

Not much for the way in hatches on Thursday in the rain. Prior to the cold front there had been stones (goldens and salmonflies), brown drakes, caddis, and yellow sallies. We found quite a few stonefly nymphs in the shallows and would anticipate some pretty decent hatches once it warms. I would also expect the pmd's and some green drakes pretty soon too so don't leave home without them.